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Setting Up Your Course

General Guidelines
Course Structure
Learning Experiences

Five Guidelines for Remote Instruction

1. Course Design

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The basic principles of good course design are the same whether the class is taught in person or remotely. Check out the Center for Teaching and Learning’s pointers on effective course design.

2. Accessibility

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Not all of your students will have regular or reliable access to the internet, but all of them should be able to participate, contribute, and access course materials. You will need to figure out how to make it possible for all of your students to be engaged.

3. Synchronicity

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When you do have live class sessions, it should be on the days and times indicated in the class schedule in order to avoid conflicts with other classes and students’ schedules. Remember to make recordings of these class sessions available so that students can access them later if they cannot participate live.

4. Structure

Online students need to be able to do more of the course work on their own. A clear course structure will help a lot with this. Provide study guides for the readings, scaffold assignments, give examples of past work, and make due dates easy to spot.

5. Communication

You will need to contact your students consistently and frequently. Send out regularly scheduled emails and hold virtual office hours. Make it a point to return graded work promptly. Create a class blog or chat where students can correspond with you and each other. Make sure that those who cannot attend live-streamed classes can get a hold of you and share thoughts with the other students.

Possible Course Designs for Remote Instruction

Select an approach that will work well for you and your students.

Flipped Classroom

April 25, 2020 02:25 AM
1) Instructor provides instructional input.<br />

2) Students “learn” by reading, watching, or doing outside of class.<br />

3) Class time is used for interactive discussion, practice, and questions.<br />
Read Full Story

Individual Learning Contracts

April 25, 2020 02:26 AM
1)Students propose personalized learning plans.<br />

2)Instructor approves learning experiences, creative products, deadlines.<br />

3)Class time is used for collaboration with peers, interactive practice, & teacher consultation.<br /> Read Full Story

Learning Menus

April 25, 2020 02:27 AM
1) Instructor generates a menu of possible learning activities.<br />

2) Students must select a certain number of activities from each category.<br />

3) Students complete activities outside of class.<br />

4) Class time is used for discussion, interactive practice, and questions.<br /> Read Full Story

Project-based Learning

April 25, 2020 02:28 AM
1) Students and instructor agree on a collaborative project.<br />

2) Students engage in sustained inquiry and ongoing critique, revision, and reflection.<br />

3) Students develop a tangible product.<br />

4) Students share their product with a public audience outside of the classroom.<br /> Read Full Story

Eclectic Approach

April 25, 2020 03:32 AM
You may also wish to create a customized approach to meet your students' needs by combining individual elements from several of the above approaches. Read Full Story

Decide how to help students achieve course learning outcomes. A mix of creative and critical thinking activities works best.

See Humanities Course Learning Outcomes

A young woman holds a camera and tripod in front of her face while filming.
A young woman holds a camera and tripod in front of her face while filming.

Creative Engagement:

To engage students creatively, try asking students to create (with the free technology tools suggested):

A young man writes his thoughts in a journal.
A young man writes his thoughts in a journal.

Critical Thinking:

To encourage critical thinking and reflection, try assigning: